More features iOS should take from Android? Ars readers weigh in

How apps are handled, keyboards, text selection, and widgets made the list.

Earlier this week, we outlined five Android features that we think would do some good on the iOS side of the mobile spectrum (we also have a companion post that examines the question in reverse). Google Now-style services, quick settings in the Notification Center, improvements to autocorrect and spelling suggestions, and the ability to set default apps and set home screen buttons to links within apps all made our list.

But as always, Ars readers were eager to tell us what they think Apple could borrow from Android in order to make iOS a more compelling experience. In the 200+ comments on that piece, readers offered ideas and debated over which features were truly worth the Apple stamp of approval. Though not everyone was in agreement (since when has that ever happened in the iOS and Android world?), we identified three main topics that came up over and over again in the comments: how apps are handled on iOS devices, how keyboards are handled, and— drum roll, please—widgets.

Apps could use some tweaking

It should come as no surprise that one of the main things Ars readers want iOS to adopt from Android is the ability to sideload apps without having to go through the App Store or jailbreak. Kethinov was the first to point this out in our comments and many others agreed—though we don't think Apple will change its stance on this anytime soon. It's fun to dream, though, right?

More realistically, tommertron pointed out two major app-related features that iOS could seriously benefit from: the auto-updating of apps and the ability for apps to download info in the background.

"It's such a dumb process on iOS to see that little App Store number keep incrementing up then have to review and update the apps. If you've got apps that you wanted to use, you have to wait for all the updates to finish. I love that Android just updates them while you're not using the device and gives you a little notification to see it's been done. Plus, you can turn off auto updating on a per app level if you really want to," tommertron wrote. "The other one is great for apps like Pocket. I can't count how many times I've gotten on the subway, fired up Pocket in my phone, then realized I didn't update before I left. It's been awesome having Pocket on my Nexus update as soon as I save an article without ever having to take it out of my bag."

dantesan also wants to be able to share data between apps: "I just want iOS to be able to share data with other apps standard rather than having to be specifically designed to do so. For instance, many apps let me send data to maps, but I can't send map data FROM maps to other apps. Sometimes I end up having to e-mail myself information to be entered into another app because the app I'm using doesn't let me copy all text fields."

Finally, Clint pointed out that Android users have the ability to push whole apps to their devices from Google Play. "I can push an app from play.google to my Android device across the network. I don't believe iTunes has similar functionality," he wrote.

Keyboards, text selection, and more keyboards

Some readers had simple requests when it comes to the iOS keyboard, like Larkster. "In Android, the keys are displayed with either upper or lower case letters depending on what will show up when the key is pressed," he wrote. "I was using an iPad recently and was very off-put by the fact that the keyboard perpetually shows upper case letters. I can understand that the designers may have wanted to better simulate a physical keyboard, but why limit yourself to a silly physical constraint when making a virtual keyboard? Heck, I wish my physical keyboard could have this feature."

But more than upper- and lower-case letters, Ars readers wanted the ability to use third-party keyboards in place of the standard iOS keyboard that comes on their iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. "They must take the ability to have any kind of keyboard you want like Android has. Apple iOS has the worst keyboard on any tablet or phone. The best keyboard for Android, in my opinion, is SwiftKey. Not only does it have arrow keys, but it can do Swype keyboarding as well," Chadarius wrote.

A reader going by cnerd2025 agreed: "I know other people have said it, but the ability to use a third-party keyboard layout and/or text entry system. I am kind of jealous of my Android-using friends who have Swype type goodies. If I am ever going to be able to use my iPad (or even iPhone) for anything professional, I'm going to need an efficient way to enter text while using the ctrl, alt, super/command, and escape keys."

And, of course, there's always gotta be at least one person to request the D-word. "Dvorak keyboard layout," wrote woodelf. "I might like a Swype-style keyboard, too, once I got used to it, but I've never used one."

Ars readers had a couple of suggestions for text selection as well based on past experience with both platforms.

"I am currently using both Android and iOS, I can say that the thing that frustrates the hell out of me the most is the iOS keyboard, in combination with trying to select a specific point within text," wrote mcn31l. "When I go to make a correction to something I have typed, iOS seem to mostly select the end of the word instead of where I want the "cursor". With Android it mostly gets the right place and if not, there are the arrow keys to make life easier; iOS requires me to hold down and find the correct spot."

giantbee was in total agreement. "The biggest one for me, bigger even than widgets is a proper draggable text caret. Editing text on the iPad with the on-screen keyboard is a horribly imprecise chore, but if I am away from home, I don't always have a [Bluetooth] keyboard with cursor keys handy," he wrote.

"For now, I have installed an app from Cydia called "SwipeShiftCaret" (or similar) which allows me to at least move things backwards and forwards with swipe gestures. It's a little clumsy, but orders of magnitude faster and more precise than base iOS. Obviously, you need a jailbroken device to run it, but then that sort of free and useful tweak not being available via the official routes is another thing that I dislike about iOS—you're stuck with a very vanilla experience."

Widgets galore

"iOS doesn't have widgets yet, does it?" asked Postulator. "These should probably be near the top of the wish list."

Indeed, iOS does not have Android-style widgets, and some would argue that iOS is cleaner and easier-to-use as a result. (If you're a Mac user who's not familiar with what Android widgets are, think OS X Dashboard widgets, but on your phone.) But just because there are users who would never want such a thing doesn't mean there aren't handfuls of users who would appreciate widgets on their iOS devices in order to get easy access to certain information on one screen.

"I'd also say widgets," said another reader going by maximum_carnage. "Being able to get from my calendar to my news reader to my Facebook to my shortcuts, weather, and music with single swipes is so convenient."

Ars reader pitmonster even offered up an idea for how the widgets could be visually laid out on an iOS device: "Maybe widgets made from double-width icons, in a Windows Phone 7/8 style."

Let's be honest here: Apple isn't likely to hop on the widget train anytime soon (and if it does, the Ars staff will figure out a way to eat a hat). Still, it's pretty clear that some Ars readers would love to see them make an appearance. "I think widgets would go a long way to giving iOS an updated feel, and I find them quite useful," MonkeyPaw wrote before throwing a bone to the alternate keyboard lovers. "I also love the Swype keyboard."

123 Reader Comments

I use the calendar a lot for time keeping and as a work diary. It was like a breath of fresh air to switch from iPhone 4 to the Galaxy Note. I'd be happy to switch back if the iOS calendar app got this:

- Freely allow appointments times at minute intervals instead of as now 5 minute intervals.- Copy calendar entries.- Allow me to chose the starting day of the week. The week here in Oman starts on Saturday which of course cannot be chosen on the iPhone.

Actually, there is a work around for added functionality on iOS. However, you have to set it all up on a desktop calendar (either iCal or Outlook) then sync it over.

Indeed, iOS does not have Android-style widgets, and some would argue that iOS is cleaner and easier-to-use as a result. (If you're a Mac user who's not familiar with what Android widgets are, think OS X Dashboard widgets, but on your phone.)

Where do you think Google probably got the idea from ? It also appeared on the Jailbreaks years before Android sprung up to the public.

You know, it'd be kind of hard for widgets to "appear on the Jailbreaks years before Android sprung up to the public", considering the first Android phone came out a few months after the first iPhone (and, yes, it had widgets).

Oh, and Stardock had a desktop widget environment in 2000, way before Dashboard. MS had Active Desktop even before that. And before you get into the "yes, but Apple did it better and everyone ripped them off" bit, Google Desktop came out the same year as Dashboard, and had widgets.

Here's two small tweaks to fix one problem: fix turn-by-turn directions to behave regardless of device orientation, OR allow directions to be spoken through my Bluetooth speakerphone.

When I use maps for directions, I set the phone in one of the cupholders in my center console. But, the speakers on the phone are on the bottom, so it is difficult to hear Siri speak. The solution is to turn the phone upside down, speakers facing up.

The problem with this is that Maps doesn't like this orientation. Right-side-up, yes, that's fine. Turn the phone to one side or another, it re-orients the display and you're good-to-go. Device upside down, the screen doesn't orient itself and your map is upside down and can't be used.

The other solution, if Apple is unwilling to fix this screen-orientation behavior (all of our devices must be kept right-side-up!), is allow Siri to speak over Bluetooth. When you are giving instructions, she seems able to do it. You can even ask for directions and choose a destination via Bluetooth, but once the maps app gets involved it doesn't work anymore.

As the owner of a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and a current generation iPad, I would like to see Samsung and others NOT lock 3rd party apps on Android devices in the manner of Apple. What good is an OS that allows customization only to have a reseller lock 3rd party crap like Dropbox and Samsung's craptastic apps to the OS?

I would have bought a Google tablet, but wanted a memory card slot to offset the stingy memory shipped on most Android Tablets. At this point I'm thinking about rooting the thing or giving it away as Android has a long way to go on tablets-especially with Samsung's garbage locked onto the device hogging space and resources.

I'd really like it if Apple had Androids dialer.(maybe it was Samsung specific? I had a Captivate before moving to an iPhone5) When I moved to iOS from Android losing the predictive dialer was a real downgrade for me that I didn't think I'd miss nearly as much as I do.

Yes I can use the search function in the contacts area but its more of a pain to use then just tapping 726 on the number pad to call Sam.

The weather app on here is just useless. There are many betters ones on the app store. And If I am really honest, while I work in finance I still have almost never used the stocks app. I just don't need it. Let me get rid of it.

And here I thought iOS was free from bloatware. I guess it's just free from bloatware from the cellular companies?

Mandatory crapware is a "feature" both iOS and Android can do without.

"I don't need it therefore bloatware."

No. Bloatware on mobiles is software or visual clutter which cannot be uninstalled, frozen or altered.

If the stocks widgets in the notification shade could be removed, that would not be bloatware. Since it can it is. Uninstalling apps is not such a bother any more with the new freezing ability in stock Android. Since most of these apps come installed on the system partition, uninstalling them would not free up space for user-installed apps, they reside on a different partition. I just want them out of my sight and not running any processes in the background.

Some of the reader complaints in the article should have been fact-checked before this was published.

Some corrections

3. The complaint about sharing data should be clarified to point out that it depends on the type of data that's being shared. If it's a file, the open in feature already exists. No mention of that? Apple needs to simply expand this feature to include other data types, rather than create an entirely new feature.

You are correct. I should have specified in my original post that it was certain kinds of data. Unfortunately for me it tends to be the exact data I need to share. And.. Of course if it's a file it can usually be opened by other compatible apps. (However I wouldn't call that "sharing."). I am talking about directly copying information from one app to another. It works in some things... But it isn't nearly as widely implemented or as streamlined as the Android equivalent. Assuming most people at Ars have used both Android and iOS i think they are able to infer what was meant though. Direct Sharing between apps in iOS should work more like sharing between apps in Android. In my humble opinion it's one of the few things Android got totally right.

If you think it's annoying to have to swipe to other apps, you have options.

1. Move the calendar.2. Put the apps you most use in a single folder.3. Change your launcher to one that allows for widget resizing if you're not on a version of android that does.4. There's possibly a more compact agenda/calendar/appointments app that will let you see what coming up while taking up less real estate.

Good suggestion, however couple of snags:

1. The value if a widget is that it's immediately viewable. If I'm going to put it on a second screen then, for the same amount of effort and inconveniance, I might as well just tap the calendar button. In addition the button will give me the full calendar app functionality unlike the limited functionality the widget will expose. 2. If they weren't important enough to have on the main screen then I might as well just leave them in the app tray. 3. Got that already. The calendar is 4x2, any smaller and it's practically useless so I might as well just launch the calendar app. 4. It's Calendar Widget and pretty flexible already. I could go to something which only shows one entry and is 2x1 but I don't think it'll be very practical.

Placing the calendar widget on the lock screen is a good idea though. That is something that hasn't crossed my mind and something else that would be nice on iOS.

EDIT: Looks like I can only add icons to the lock screen on my S3. Shame as a widget would have been far more useful. Unless I've missed something?

The weather app on here is just useless. There are many betters ones on the app store. And If I am really honest, while I work in finance I still have almost never used the stocks app. I just don't need it. Let me get rid of it.

And here I thought iOS was free from bloatware. I guess it's just free from bloatware from the cellular companies?

Mandatory crapware is a "feature" both iOS and Android can do without.

"I don't need it therefore bloatware."

No. Bloatware on mobiles is software or visual clutter which cannot be uninstalled, frozen or altered.

If the stocks widgets in the notification shade could be removed, that would not be bloatware. Since it can it is. Uninstalling apps is not such a bother any more with the new freezing ability in stock Android. Since most of these apps come installed on the system partition, uninstalling them would not free up space for user-installed apps, they reside on a different partition. I just want them out of my sight and not running any processes in the background.

By your definition, the clock and signal strength indicators are also bloatware. I think there's an additional "je ne sais qua" to defining bloatware, at least in my experience; I'm not sure the default stock-ticker in the notifications shade in iOS is the same as "Sprint Super Action Center" or "Verizon Media Whatzawhosit" which attempt to take control of otherwise simple processes.

If you think it's annoying to have to swipe to other apps, you have options.

1. Move the calendar.2. Put the apps you most use in a single folder.3. Change your launcher to one that allows for widget resizing if you're not on a version of android that does.4. There's possibly a more compact agenda/calendar/appointments app that will let you see what coming up while taking up less real estate.

Good suggestion, however couple of snags:

1. The value if a widget is that it's immediately viewable. If I'm going to put it on a second screen then, for the same amount of effort and inconveniance, I might as well just tap the calendar button. In addition the button will give me the full calendar app functionality unlike the limited functionality the widget will expose. 2. If they weren't important enough to have on the main screen then I might as well just leave them in the app tray. 3. Got that already. The calendar is 4x2, any smaller and it's practically useless so I might as well just launch the calendar app. 4. It's Calendar Widget and pretty flexible already. I could go to something which only shows one entry and is 2x1 but I don't think it'll be very practical.

Placing the calendar widget on the lock screen is a good idea though. That is something that hasn't crossed my mind and something else that would be nice on iOS.

EDIT: Looks like I can only add icons to the lock screen on my S3. Shame as a widget would have been far more useful. Unless I've missed something?

You'll be able to add widgets to your lockscreen once you get updated to 4.2 which shouldn't be too long away now, I'm guessing soon after the S4 launch.

But you complaints about widgets strike me a somewhat silly. I mean, you have to flexibility of having icons or widgets, multiple home-screens to stick them in, most widgets resizable, all with certain 3rd party launchers, and a multitude of differently styled widgets for common features like calanders, etc.

If you cannot find a configuration that is pleasing with those at your disposal, I'm at a loss. If you dislike the entire concept, then populate your homescreen with app icons, similar to iOS but with the benefit of shortcuts from within apps which is missing from iOS.

However, you seem to be complaining that you want everything on a single screen (if I need to scroll then there is no point - there is, it's simpler to scroll through a few screens of widgets then find and launch individual apps for that information) but the widget must be at minimum 2x4 as any smaller there is no point, but then it takes away from space for app icons? I'm a little bit lost. Short of adding a second LCD screen besides your main one, there isn't much you can do to solve the problem.

The weather app on here is just useless. There are many betters ones on the app store. And If I am really honest, while I work in finance I still have almost never used the stocks app. I just don't need it. Let me get rid of it.

And here I thought iOS was free from bloatware. I guess it's just free from bloatware from the cellular companies?

Mandatory crapware is a "feature" both iOS and Android can do without.

"I don't need it therefore bloatware."

No. Bloatware on mobiles is software or visual clutter which cannot be uninstalled, frozen or altered.

If the stocks widgets in the notification shade could be removed, that would not be bloatware. Since it can it is. Uninstalling apps is not such a bother any more with the new freezing ability in stock Android. Since most of these apps come installed on the system partition, uninstalling them would not free up space for user-installed apps, they reside on a different partition. I just want them out of my sight and not running any processes in the background.

By your definition, the clock and signal strength indicators are also bloatware. I think there's an additional "je ne sais qua" to defining bloatware, at least in my experience; I'm not sure the default stock-ticker in the notifications shade in iOS is the same as "Sprint Super Action Center" or "Verizon Media Whatzawhosit" which attempt to take control of otherwise simple processes.

No really. The clock and signal strength indicators are pretty clearly system elements, while you can argue the exact semantics, I'd say it's pretty clear which elements of the phone are system elements and which are not. System elements would be locked for the functioning of the phone (barring root access).

This might sound arbitrary but a stock ticker does not seem to be critical to the functioning of the phone as an app drawer or signal display etc is. The stock ticker is furthermore in a place where most Android users would feel is instinctively 'theirs' rather than the systems. Personally I found the initial locking of the Google Search widget to the top of the homescreen of the default launcher in ICS to be bloatware. It's intruding in an area of the UI commonly understood to belong to the user for their own icons and widgets while not being removable or alterable.

I agree wholeheartedly with you about the uselessness of carrier bloatware apps, I was simply stating that with the native ability to freeze apps, there is not much need to root to uninstall them as there used to be in older versions. There is no space gain and all processes associated with the app will vanish.

I don't want automatic updating in the background... I think it should be an option, but it's not something I am interested in.

What if the app starts updating because I set my phone down for a few minutes. When I come back the app is still updating and I can't use it.

If I have to be on the move and I leave somewhere that I am no longer connected to WiFi - what happens to the update? Does it just switch to my cellular network? If so then that has implications on how much data I use on my limited data plan.

What about other apps that haven't started updating? Are they paused or do they download when I switch to cellular network?

Do we now have an entire section in the Settings app for micro-managing auto-updates? You'd pretty much have to in order to have the many different options people would want: * Option on whether or not to enable Auto-Updating * Option to turn on/off per installed app * Option for whether or not to use cellular data when updating * Option to decide what to do when updating starts on WiFi and user moves into cellular (keep updating using cellular data or pause update until manually initiated by user or device is back on Wifi)

Maybe more? I like having all these options and it's something Apple should work on, but it sound like a lot of work to configure.

The default would probably be best to have the feature "on" and all apps defaulted to "on." Newly installed apps would default to "on."

It would be nice if when you see the "New" sticker on an app that you can hold the icon for a few seconds to get the wobble, but instead of just a wobble you get a context menu with an option for toggling this apps Auto-Updating settings.

That also reminds me... Apps should have some settings duplicated between the Settings app and the app itself.

I like the Settings app and having all the settings for everything in one place, but there are many times when it doesn't make much sense to have to switch to another app to configure a setting. It would be best if that could just be done within the app. Maybe this is an app developer thing, but I'd like to see more apps take this approach to settings.

I don't want automatic updating in the background... I think it should be an option, but it's not something I am interested in.

What if the app starts updating because I set my phone down for a few minutes. When I come back the app is still updating and I can't use it.

If I have to be on the move and I leave somewhere that I am no longer connected to WiFi - what happens to the update? Does it just switch to my cellular network? If so then that has implications on how much data I use on my limited data plan.

What about other apps that haven't started updating? Are they paused or do they download when I switch to cellular network?

Do we now have an entire section in the Settings app for micro-managing auto-updates? You'd pretty much have to in order to have the many different options people would want: * Option on whether or not to enable Auto-Updating * Option to turn on/off per installed app * Option for whether or not to use cellular data when updating * Option to decide what to do when updating starts on WiFi and user moves into cellular (keep updating using cellular data or pause update until manually initiated by user or device is back on Wifi)

Maybe more? I like having all these options and it's something Apple should work on, but it sound like a lot of work to configure.

The default would probably be best to have the feature "on" and all apps defaulted to "on." Newly installed apps would default to "on."

It would be nice if when you see the "New" sticker on an app that you can hold the icon for a few seconds to get the wobble, but instead of just a wobble you get a context menu with an option for toggling this apps Auto-Updating settings.

That also reminds me... Apps should have some settings duplicated between the Settings app and the app itself.

I like the Settings app and having all the settings for everything in one place, but there are many times when it doesn't make much sense to have to switch to another app to configure a setting. It would be best if that could just be done within the app. Maybe this is an app developer thing, but I'd like to see more apps take this approach to settings.

Apps are auto-configured to never use mobile data for automatic updates. I agree it can be considerable work to set things up for each individual app, but there is also a global setting from what I remember in the settings of the Play Store (where you can also set automatic updates to use mobile data).

The most useful thing to be honest is the fact that when you download an app from the Play Store, the landing page (i.e. the page that appears immediately after the installation is successful) is the same screen where you can set auto-updates on or off. This makes it extremely easy to do. However, I agree that it's a pain to do if you've already installed a bunch of apps.

Edit: Forgot to mention, the default setting is on for all apps only on WiFi. This is a pretty useful and sane configuration and the fact that there is no complicated settings page just for this, just a few global options in the settings of the Play Store and per-app permissions on each app's page within the Play Store, and the option to easily disable individual apps when you install them. It probably sounds a lot more annoying than it tends to be in practice and is a pretty good configuration for Apple to copy.

Interesting list. Not sure about widgets though. In my brief forays into the Android world (most recently with the Nexus 7), I thought the Facebook and Twitter widgets were pretty useless beyond being giant icons for their respective apps. The Mint widget: what's the point if it doesn't auto-update my accounts? About the only widget I liked were the weather ones, but that's only because of Apple's inexplicable decision to not include a weather widget for notification center for the iPad.

Except for that one issue, I like Apple's Notification Center implementation, it provides me with widget-like information and functionality while not making my various home screens not look like a 90s website. (though, Google has shown with Android 4.2 that you can always do more with the items in Notification center) I hope that Apple does allow 3rd party apps to add more functionality to their notification center widgets in iOS7. For example, allow 3rd party weather apps to put something in there... Apple also needs to add various system controls (bluetooth on/off, wifi on/off, DND on/off, etc.) to the notification center as well (or like Android 4.2, have it be in its own drop down menu, which I really liked on the Nexus 7). But overall, I feel that the notification center in iOS has made me want Android-style, homescreen widgets less because I get more out of NC without it cluttering my screen and I can access it from any app.

And yes, I would love to see something similar to Google's Gesture Typing (another features added in 4.2 that I loved on the Nexus 7).

... I like having all these options and it's something Apple should work on, but it sound like a lot of work to configure...

Apps are auto-configured to never use mobile data for automatic updates...

The most useful thing to be honest is the fact that when you download an app from the Play Store, the landing page...is the same screen where you can set auto-updates on or off....

It sounds like it doesn't fit into Apple's philosophy of making things as simple as possible. When you get to the point that context matters, Apple has not traditionally been a fan of those types of features.

A lot of complaints about Apple software is the severe lack of customization options. And that's because Apple thinks they know how users want to use their apps without needing to provide them with all these configuration options. I'm not saying Apple is right. Just that the concept of micro-managing features like this goes against what Apple has done in the past and that they may not even consider this because of it.

Maybe Apple is changing the way they do some things and will begin giving users these types of options. I fear they may be working more on a redesign of the User Interface for iOS 7 instead of adding new features to compete with Android. A lot of people have been suggesting that the iOS interface is starting to trow stale while it's competitors have consistently shown improvements in UI.

... I hope that Apple does allow 3rd party apps to add more functionality to their notification center widgets in iOS7. For example, allow 3rd party weather apps to put something in there... Apple also needs to add various system controls (bluetooth on/off, wifi on/off, DND on/off, etc.) to the notification center as well (or like Android 4.2, have it be in its own drop down menu, which I really liked on the Nexus 7)...

I agree that widgets would be best placed in the Notification Center.

Though when you allow for widgets you then have to think about whether the Notification Center now needs to have multiple screens that you flip through.

For example: 1 for Notifications, 1 for Widgets, and 1 for Multitasking

Users would then be able to configure which Notification Center screen would display by default and those option could be something like: Remember the last screen I was on OR Always take me to Multitasking.

To weight in the keyboards issue: typing in iOS in any language that uses anything beyong the ISO basic Latin alphabet, like accented vowels (á, é, è, etc.) or the cedilla (ç) is a NIGHTMARE, a huge PITA.

Keyboard localization seems to be a kind of a philosophical Achilles heel within Apple. Take their desktops and notebooks, for instance: Apple is the ONLY OEM that fails to provide them with ABNT2 keyboards in Brazil. Everybody is able (and willing) to do it, but Apple.

Why is it so? WTF is going in their airheads to make them avoid these simple steps (keyboard localization) that'd make their product so much more user-friendly in pretty much everywhere around the globe?

PS.: Swype rocks. I used it in my Galaxy S, I use it in my Razr Maxx and it just gets better and better.

PS.2: A keyboard feature too often neglected even in Android: ARROWS! When I'm typing, I need to be able to navigate with speed, ease and precision accress the text. That is pretty much impossible with finger-based cursor movement alone.

I was just using Google Chrome on my iPad. You know what Grinds My Gears?

I like Google Chrome much better than Safari. Along with allowing me to set it as my default browser, I'd like the app to be able to take advantage of any OS-based APIs that could speed up browsing in 3rd party apps. I don't like that Apple locks down their technology to artificially make Safari a faster browser. Let's make it an even playing field so that I am not forced to use a slower internet because of Apple's arbitrary restrictions.

... I like having all these options and it's something Apple should work on, but it sound like a lot of work to configure...

Apps are auto-configured to never use mobile data for automatic updates...

The most useful thing to be honest is the fact that when you download an app from the Play Store, the landing page...is the same screen where you can set auto-updates on or off....

It sounds like it doesn't fit into Apple's philosophy of making things as simple as possible. When you get to the point that context matters, Apple has not traditionally been a fan of those types of features.

A lot of complaints about Apple software is the severe lack of customization options. And that's because Apple thinks they know how users want to use their apps without needing to provide them with all these configuration options. I'm not saying Apple is right. Just that the concept of micro-managing features like this goes against what Apple has done in the past and that they may not even consider this because of it.

Maybe Apple is changing the way they do some things and will begin giving users these types of options. I fear they may be working more on a redesign of the User Interface for iOS 7 instead of adding new features to compete with Android. A lot of people have been suggesting that the iOS interface is starting to trow stale while it's competitors have consistently shown improvements in UI.

That is true, and one of the major reasons why I chose Android even though I enjoyed my iPod Touch to a reasonable degree, for a device as personal and important as a modern smartphone (and not just a odd casual gaming machine I used the Touch for), I just wasn't the type of user that Apple cater for.

But there usually is a decent middle ground for most features. For the one under discussion here, auto-updating apps only on WiFi sounds pretty good with a single global off option only, I can see that being Apple-ish. It would help the majority of iOS users, albeit without covering all the use-cases that Android does with it's flexibility.

That said, Apple seem pretty adverse to any use of background data, as another Arsian already pointed out, apps are not able to auto-update content either. Add that to a slew of things like automatic contact sync and no apps like Tasker or RSync for automated network backups. The iPhone is pretty hands-on to be honest. the paradoxical flip-nature of it being 'just works' certified.

The one thing ios really needs that I love about android is the damn Menu button.

Also the default email in in ios stinks, Bad! You can't even attach files. No Menu.

Another HUGE featues in Android vs. ios is Share button. You can share just about anything withjust about anything else with one easy button. For example a picture. In android I can click the share button and send it any number of ways right from there. Not so in ios I have to copy it first, if I can find a freaking Menu button.

That is true, and one of the major reasons why I chose Android even though I enjoyed my iPod Touch to a reasonable degree, for a device as personal and important as a modern smartphone (and not just a odd casual gaming machine I used the Touch for), I just wasn't the type of user that Apple cater for.

But there usually is a decent middle ground for most features. For the one under discussion here, auto-updating apps only on WiFi sounds pretty good with a single global off option only, I can see that being Apple-ish. It would help the majority of iOS users, albeit without covering all the use-cases that Android does with it's flexibility.

That said, Apple seem pretty adverse to any use of background data, as another Arsian already pointed out, apps are not able to auto-update content either. Add that to a slew of things like automatic contact sync and no apps like Tasker or RSync for automated network backups. The iPhone is pretty hands-on to be honest. the paradoxical flip-nature of it being 'just works' certified.

I suppose proof that Apple may be willing to allow these types of multi-level options is Notifications. It use to just be Notifications on or off. Now you can configure each apps Notifications separately and even decide which types of notifications are allowed per app.

I'm adverse to having my phone doing a bunch of background data work that uses my Network connections.

Why? Because of data caps. Our smartphones can do so much, but are limited by the amount of data our carriers allow us to use, which is based on the amount of money we're willing to pay them for that data.

I already run up against my 4GB/month data cap with my normal use. Allowing apps to automatically grab data in the background would make it more difficult for me to manage my data caps.

Android has a feature (built-in?) that lets users set a data cap on their phone so that the phone stops apps from using data when it hits the cap that the user defines. This is useful, but I want to be able to control the data so that I can know for sure whether I have enough data to watch a video or download a chunky game.

I'm one of those guys that has my Windows Updates set to notify, but not download or install automatically. I'm not a complete control freak, but there are some things I'm not ready to trust Google or Apple to manage for me yet - hence the request for options that I can turn on/off or otherwise configure to fit my needs and wants.

I fully support keyboard customization though, I think that would benefit many regular users.

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Quote:

Bamford also said that after the first month of perfecting and tweaking, 80 per cent of folks do not continue to customise their homescreen layout.

So basically what people do is tweak their layout during the first month until they get it exactly how they want it, then leave it alone. Except for 20% of people who keep tweaking. This, to me, is an entirely reasonable expectation. Once you get it right, what's the motivation to keep moving it around?

There's also the point that having the option of customization does not take away your choice of not customizing anything. We may be disconnected from the general market, so? We can have it our way, they can have it their way. Taking away that option means they can have it their way, but we can't. I truly don't see what's the gain in that.

5. Placing the cursor between words instead of at the exact point I tap is the correct behavior. Most of the time I'm moving the cursor, it's to manage the words themselves, rather than the spelling of the words. Tapping where I though was the end of a word to find the cursor one letter off would be extremely frustrating. The current behavior is predictable in every situation, therefore not frustrating. But an easy way to move the cursor from the keyboard would be fantastic.

We won't be running out of haggis. I want the cursor to go where I put my finger, or at least have no particular preference for word breaks over other options. Even with a mouse and arrow keys, MSWindows' insistence that I must have meant to put my cursor at the beginning/end of a word and/or grab the whole word drives me absolutely batty--in large part because more often than not, I'm trying to select part of a word or words. I could make an argument for why exact point is the "correct" behavior, but I'll accept that you have different preferences than I, and that this is one of them.

That is true, and one of the major reasons why I chose Android even though I enjoyed my iPod Touch to a reasonable degree, for a device as personal and important as a modern smartphone (and not just a odd casual gaming machine I used the Touch for), I just wasn't the type of user that Apple cater for.

But there usually is a decent middle ground for most features. For the one under discussion here, auto-updating apps only on WiFi sounds pretty good with a single global off option only, I can see that being Apple-ish. It would help the majority of iOS users, albeit without covering all the use-cases that Android does with it's flexibility.

That said, Apple seem pretty adverse to any use of background data, as another Arsian already pointed out, apps are not able to auto-update content either. Add that to a slew of things like automatic contact sync and no apps like Tasker or RSync for automated network backups. The iPhone is pretty hands-on to be honest. the paradoxical flip-nature of it being 'just works' certified.

I suppose proof that Apple may be willing to allow these types of multi-level options is Notifications. It use to just be Notifications on or off. Now you can configure each apps Notifications separately and even decide which types of notifications are allowed per app.

I'm adverse to having my phone doing a bunch of background data work that uses my Network connections.

Why? Because of data caps. Our smartphones can do so much, but are limited by the amount of data our carriers allow us to use, which is based on the amount of money we're willing to pay them for that data.

I already run up against my 4GB/month data cap with my normal use. Allowing apps to automatically grab data in the background would make it more difficult for me to manage my data caps.

Android has a feature (built-in?) that lets users set a data cap on their phone so that the phone stops apps from using data when it hits the cap that the user defines. This is useful, but I want to be able to control the data so that I can know for sure whether I have enough data to watch a video or download a chunky game.

I'm one of those guys that has my Windows Updates set to notify, but not download or install automatically. I'm not a complete control freak, but there are some things I'm not ready to trust Google or Apple to manage for me yet - hence the request for options that I can turn on/off or otherwise configure to fit my needs and wants.

You have that control. Not only can you set the overall data limit, but once you do you can see what apps are using the data (even down to each day). From there, you can restrict the app so it cannot use background data (unless on Wifi). This way, when on network, the app only uses data if you open it and are actively using it.

As for the auto-updating of apps, when you get a notification an app has an update - when you go to update it you just check a box, no hunting to click all you've already downloaded unless you want to.. and if there is a change in permission, even if you have auto-update, you then have to manually approve the update (you can even click to go to the apps Playstore page first to see if the developer has notes as to why the change and if reviewers claim it changed anything for better or worse)

Anyone that thinks iOS needs widgets probably should take a shotgun and swallow some lead.

I realize you're probably trolling (or hate choice).. but what if, as someone else suggested - your swipe left to the search page allowed you to put a few widgets below it? which would be optional for those that wished to have it or ignored if you don't care for them.. maybe even have two pages of them to the left - left for widgets, right for apps.. sacrilege?

That is true, and one of the major reasons why I chose Android even though I enjoyed my iPod Touch to a reasonable degree, for a device as personal and important as a modern smartphone (and not just a odd casual gaming machine I used the Touch for), I just wasn't the type of user that Apple cater for.

But there usually is a decent middle ground for most features. For the one under discussion here, auto-updating apps only on WiFi sounds pretty good with a single global off option only, I can see that being Apple-ish. It would help the majority of iOS users, albeit without covering all the use-cases that Android does with it's flexibility.

That said, Apple seem pretty adverse to any use of background data, as another Arsian already pointed out, apps are not able to auto-update content either. Add that to a slew of things like automatic contact sync and no apps like Tasker or RSync for automated network backups. The iPhone is pretty hands-on to be honest. the paradoxical flip-nature of it being 'just works' certified.

I suppose proof that Apple may be willing to allow these types of multi-level options is Notifications. It use to just be Notifications on or off. Now you can configure each apps Notifications separately and even decide which types of notifications are allowed per app.

I'm adverse to having my phone doing a bunch of background data work that uses my Network connections.

Why? Because of data caps. Our smartphones can do so much, but are limited by the amount of data our carriers allow us to use, which is based on the amount of money we're willing to pay them for that data.

I already run up against my 4GB/month data cap with my normal use. Allowing apps to automatically grab data in the background would make it more difficult for me to manage my data caps.

Android has a feature (built-in?) that lets users set a data cap on their phone so that the phone stops apps from using data when it hits the cap that the user defines. This is useful, but I want to be able to control the data so that I can know for sure whether I have enough data to watch a video or download a chunky game.

I'm one of those guys that has my Windows Updates set to notify, but not download or install automatically. I'm not a complete control freak, but there are some things I'm not ready to trust Google or Apple to manage for me yet - hence the request for options that I can turn on/off or otherwise configure to fit my needs and wants.

That is a fair point, it might be good to point out that even stock Android offers a fair straightforward way to turn off background data either globally or per-app. That said if you want to assert control over your device in a deep, meaningful sense then unlocking the bootloader and using a custom ROM like AOKP is the only way to go.

I don't say that as a knock to stock Android, it's true of iOS, Windows Phone and Blackberry also, jailbroken or otherwise. It's just that a combination of having access to raw source-code and having a pretty open architecture means that the tweaks go way beyond what you can do on more closed platforms, even when unlocked/jailbroken.

The data-cap thing probably changes the situation with regard to the strengths I was listing before. I use the Three network in the UK and have unlimited data for a decent price, the market seems to moving in the opposite direction to the what I've read about the US. A few years ago there was no truly unlimited data plans and now 2 of the big 5 offer real unlimited data, and Three's 4G and 3G networks counting as the same thing, i.e. unlimited data is still unlimited even when using LTE.

Just seems like widgets are perfect for a large-screened device like an iPad. My TF700T has weather, date, battery level, and system monitor widgets on the homescreen, along with all my frequent apps, and there's STILL space for many more. Any time I've ever grabbed an iPad and saw just a screen of apps, it just feels old, almost PROGMAN.EXE old. I get that not all people like widgets, and they are always free to not use them. However, it's nice to see a forecast at a glance, or battery levels of tab and dock, or free RAM and CPU level, with no additional steps--just be at the home screen. On a phone, widgets aren't always as helpful due to space limitations, but there are still times when they are quite valuable depending on your usage model.

Some readers had simple requests when it comes to the iOS keyboard, like Larkster. "In Android, the keys are displayed with either upper or lower case letters depending on what will show up when the key is pressed," he wrote. "I was using an iPad recently and was very off-put by the fact that the keyboard perpetually shows upper case letters. I can understand that the designers may have wanted to better simulate a physical keyboard, but why limit yourself to a silly physical constraint when making a virtual keyboard? Heck, I wish my physical keyboard could have this feature."

This bothers me a lot about the BlackBerry 10 keyboard too. Why do the letters remain in ALL CAPS AT ALL TIMES? Don't use the Shift button that is usually covered by my thumb to convey letter state, just do it right on the keyboard dammit!

Maybe I'm in a minority, but I actually can't see the difference between caps and no caps at a glance. I don't know why, I probably just see the character and not the state (capitalized or not) it is in. I have to look really hard to see this and wrap my mind around it. The shift key lit up is much more obvious to me.

I really thought I would like the way Android does it better, but I don't. I really have to look and to think a moment to tell capitalized and not capitalized characters apart, it doesn't work at a glance.

The one thing ios really needs that I love about android is the damn Menu button.

Also the default email in in ios stinks, Bad! You can't even attach files. No Menu.

Another HUGE featues in Android vs. ios is Share button. You can share just about anything withjust about anything else with one easy button. For example a picture. In android I can click the share button and send it any number of ways right from there. Not so in ios I have to copy it first, if I can find a freaking Menu button.

Apple has a tendency to makes things work ass-backwards.

Andriod system is no saint either, but at least it's intuitive.

There is an attach button in email its just hidden. Hold down on an empty section of the "body" part of the text field. You will see the copy/cut menu and an arrow to the right. Tap that arrow and you get an option for attachments. Apple isn't "backwards" they just dont like wasting screen space. Their method for attachments is quite elegant actually.

I agree about the copying thing though. Sharing in Android between apps is usually more convenient. (It's gotten better recently but still not on par with Android's.)

What if the app starts updating because I set my phone down for a few minutes. When I come back the app is still updating and I can't use it.

That's another thing they need to fix.

It should be possible to use the old version of the app while the new one is downloading. This has always driven me nuts, I hit the "update all" button in my app, and suddenly a bunch of my apps cannot be launched for a few minutes while it downloads them one by one.

Just FYI... Widgets are crap even on the desktop. There's a reason no one other than techie types who want to see charts and graphs all over their desktop use them. They clutter your desktop and generally just get in the way. Not to mention a perfect way to fill your screen with advertising given the chance. The widget might be "free" if it werent for the 30x45 pixels being used to tell you it was made by "Crapware Inc." (This issue is compounded on a phone, tablet or any small screen.) You may think you need them but you don't. Personally I am glad apple covers every available section of screen with icons in iOS so that DOESN'T happen to iOS. Garbage everywhere.